NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) tweeted at 4:46 PM on Wed, Jun 14,
2017:
Soon, you'll be able to text 911 - an important improvement for speech and
hearing disabled New Yorkers. https://t.co/MM1NdbkZqt

New York City Takes Another Step Towards Modernizing 911
by Brigid Bergin
Improvements to the city's 911 emergency call system are shifting to a new phase.
The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications issued a
request for proposals Tuesday seeking vendors who can enhance the call
system to ensure people can reach 911 dispatchers with more than just a
voice call."Could be pictures, it could be video," said David Kirks, the
deputy commissioner for DoITT, who explained an ideal scenario in
which "any multimedia type of product could be communicated to the 9-1-1
call takers." The envisioning is part of what the city is calling its Next
Generation 911 solution. Responses to incoming proposals are expected to
issued in early August with a newly-enhanced emergency system scheduled to
launch in 2022.In the interim, Kirks said the city will launch a
text-to-911 solution in the first quarter of 2018, in which people who are
speech or hearing impaired or crime victims will be able to communicate
with 911 dispatchers. Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law passed
by the City Council that required DoITT to provide a report documenting
its progress towards a text-to-911 solution. The city’s handling of the
modernization project has been the subject of scrutiny in media
reports and by the city’s Department of Investigation for long delays and
its ballooning budget. Since 2004, more than $2 billion has been spent to
modernize New York City's emergency call system. That includes what's been
considered a milestone — a second call center in the Bronx backing up the
existing one in Brooklyn — became fully functional on June 1st, according
to city officials.